The Book Thief

The Book Thief has been filled with tons of good quotes. However, one that stuck out to me the most occurred on page 208. When Max arrives at the Hubermann residence, he is forced to live in the basement to avoid being seen. The living arrangement is not the best, and Hans goes as far as saying that it is pathetic. Max doesn't seem to mind and is still thankful. He then says, "'Better than nothing,' Max assured him. 'Better than I deserve- thank you.'" This quote really stuck out to me because it seemed as if not only the Nazis were looking down on the Jews, but even the Jews themselves were not proud of who they were. Max views himself as not being worthy of the luxeries that the others have throughout Germany. This once again emphasizes the power of words. Not only did Hitler's words turn Germans against the Jews, but it also made the Jews look down on themselves. When you don't like yourself, how do you expect others to view you any better?

Nazi Article

This country that we live in was created over 200 years ago on the basis of freedom and equality for everyone who lives inside its borders. One of the main reasons for people even moving over from Europe was the idea of religious freedom.The Nazi regime in the thirties and forties, however, stood for the complete opposite. Their ideology was based on thoughts of racial superiority of the Aryan race over all others. They wanted to exterminate the entire Jewish population in Europe without any good reasons. There is of course a very obvious contradiction between these two societies, and I don't believe that one can or should be allowed to coexist with the other. Recently, this subject has become a topic of debate in the form of what to do with old Nazi party members that are now living in the United States. There is controversy surrounding whether they should be left alone to finish out their lives in this country or whether they should be deported and put on trial in other countries.
Personally, I think that it would be an insult to all of those who were treated horribly or killed during the thirties and forties to just let these men off of the hook. They committed terrible crimes through torture and murder of innocent people. Some might argue that some of these men were not actually the ones shoving thousands into the gas chambers, but that doesn't mean that they did not have an opportunity to protest what their peers were doing. They could have stood up to their superiors and spoke out against the crimes instead of doing what they were told. People also argue that these men didn't have a choice, it was either do what they were told or run the risk of being killed. I believe that some things are worth the sacrifice. I don't know how someone could do these horrible "crimes against humanity" without any reason. I would say that risking your own life to save innocent people or set an example is well worth it.
Even though this genocide occurred over 60 years ago, that doesn't mean that they should be off of the hook. They did terrible things to people without any reason and did not have to pay for there crimes. This idea to me is in itself un-American. If someone hurts someone else, they should have to pay the consequences at one time or another, not just get away with it. If we let them get away with it, what reason does that give to stop it from happening again to others?

Winston Churchill

"Let us therefore brace ourselves for our duties, and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, 'This was their finest hour.'"

-Winston Churchill, http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/churchill-hour.htm

There have been many great speakers in the history of the world, and I would definately include Winston Churchill in the top of that list. The Prime Minister of Britain had a wonderful way of writing and delivering speeches that were able to keep an entire country's morale up even as the world around it was falling apart. The quote from above is the conclusion of a speech made on June 18th of 1940 to the House of Commons. The speech was delivered just days after France had fallen to the German Army and the British were seemingly alone as the last defense in Western Europe. The situation was beginning to appear hopeless, but the words and the organization of this speech were able to inspire many people in Britain to keep on fighting. By telling the troops that people one thousand years in the future will remember what they did, he gives them reason to keep on going while also sharing the importance of the "Battle of Britain". Another thing that made the words even stronger was the fact that he included himself with the people he was speaking to. By saying "Let us therefore brace ourselves for our duties" instead of "brace yourselves" it made him easier to relate to and understand. Without a great leader like Churchill and his powerful speeches, the war could have turned out much worse.

Ernie Harwell

I don't know how many baseball fans there are in our class, but if anyone watched tonight's Tigers game you would know that tonight was a game dedicated to Ernie Harwell. Ernie was the broadcaster and so-called "voice" of the Detroit Tigers from 1960 to 2002. He is a Hall of Fame announcer and rightfully so. During his announcing years he helped to introduce and make the baseball games exciting for a lot of people. The signs being held by the crowd made the love of the fans known. There were countless displays of "WE LOVE YOU ERNIE!" displayed in the stands. During the 3rd inning he made an emotional speech thanking all of the fans for their support and for letting him be a part of the Tigers association for so many years. Ernie was recently diagnosed with untreatable cancer at 91 years of age. He is an amazing guy and I wish that I would have been able to listen to him more the the few years before he retired. God Bless the voice of the Detroit Tigers, Ernie Harwell.

PS- It's about time the Tigers beat the Royals.

A Great Morning...NOT

Well, I successfully escaped it last week, but today the rumored horrible parking situation at UMD hit me. This morning I wasted quite a bit of my precious time driving past parking spot after parking spot, all occupied by cars, of course. I finally gave up and drove all of the way over to the parking structure. I guess this did add one exciting thing to my morning... I got to experience the thrill of sprinting from the parking structure all the way to the CASL building in under seven minutes. Hopefully that is the only time I experience that thrill for a while.